Having
first got into anime through my brother showing me R.O.D. OVA, it was probably this which made me become interested in
it. I therefore joined the anime club at
University and since then have watched far too much (mainly because being a
student meant I had that much time on my hands). However, alls that has come to an end as I’ve
finally got a job, so my blissful days of mass anime watching will slowly come
to a decline, but not gone for good. It
was the fact that I gained otaku status (well...if you went by v2 anyway)
remains a personal achievement which makes me realise just how sad I am...

Since
then I've managed to read up on a lot of manga to help fill the time while
anime episodes are getting released and this has helped me enjoy the anime even
more since I'm now looking for potential ones from the anime I watched.

Currently
Watching:

Aquatic Language – I finished this one-off, small talk
episode and was pleasantly surprised at how much you can get out of just 15
minutes of anime. It was quite
incredible and with a good quality animation and some really quick and snappy
dialogue, the show it over before you know it and leaves you with the feeling
of wanting more, although wraps most of it up nicely. Well worth watching and it doesn’t take much
of your time to do so.

Darker than Black: Ryuusei no Gemini – When the first series came out I was
really into it, as for me, Darker than Black brought fresh-air into a
much used magical powers genre. While I
thought that the first series had wrapped up nicely, I didn’t think that there
was a second series to come. So imagine
my surprise when it was announced and now into week 4 of the show and the
brilliance of the first series is coming to light again.

Haibane Renmei – After getting my hands on this series, I
literally ploughed through it all in one sitting. What can you expect though; I didn’t have
much else to do and was somewhat bored, needing something to keep me
entertained. Personally, I felt that
although the series had some nice ideas, it lacked the potential of what it
could have been. Since I wasn’t too
disappointed, I think it’s a series that everyone should get around to watching
at some point, although you don’t need to rush it.

Monster – Long...very...very...long. Not that it’s a bad thing, but sometimes
series are just too long. The only
reason why I picked it up was because I knew that it frequently appeared in the
top 10 of anime rankings, so it must be good surely? Imagine my disappointment when we’re 25
episodes in and the story is trailing along at snail’s pace. But then the action starts and when it does,
you are drawn so far into the storyline that you get the “just one more
episode, just one more episode” effect and that was at 3am in the morning with
an early start the next day. And then
your all of a sudden at the end of the marathon of a series and it’s time to
breath and it is only then that you fully appreciate just why it get’s the high
ratings it does. Bear with the start, Monster is a show which just gets better and better with time.

Aoi Bungaku Series – Currently broadcasting, Aoi Bungaku follows
the story of some politicians son as he tries to commit a double suicide and
fails. Well, in terms of storyline it’s
quite the dark series; yet something is strangely enticing in the portrayal which
makes it different from most other series out there.

Kimi no Todoke – Unlike the majority of people who have been
introduced to this brilliant show, I happened to have read the manga of it
first. So for me it’s a pleasure to see
a great manga being adapted into an anime series which is just as good. Kimi no Todoke is a series which brings
new meanings to the word relationships and hopefully has a good potential to be
one of the biggest hits this season.

-------->Anime
Rewind-------->

For
once I haven’t been watching a series I’ve already seen, in my desperate attempt
to catch up with what I haven’t seen...I think however, it is time that I got
around to re-watching RahXephon....for the 9th time.

Series
well worth watching that you might not have heard of:

Aquatic Language – A brilliant, short animation series, which
is well worth your time. The quirky
setting and snappy dialogue make this a treat which more people should go and
watch as not only is it superbly animated, but also fills ever single moment of
the anime with not stop genius.

Ani*Kuri 15 – Give an animator just 1 minute in which they
can do whatever you like and then put the result of 15 of these together. For me, this is the hardest anime that I’ve
ever had to review or describe. And the
reason being is that 1 minute is not that long a time. And while some of the animators produce some
really good sketches, unfortunately there are those which drag it
backwards. Either way go and watch, even
if you just see the ‘Cat’s Revenge’ one, which makes me laugh every time I see
it.

Comedy – I must admit that it has been a while since I
saw this anime and although I haven’t gotten around to re-watching it, Comedy still gives me the amazing hope of how short animes can be equally
or better than their longer counterparts.
It’s rare for me to approve of a series to the high level that I did of Comedy, all the more remarkable since its only 10 minutes long.

Music

Since I play the piano (although badly) and took
music as one of my subjects in school, I always have felt that anime music
tends to be overlooked. Yet, some of the
shows out there have some incredible, high quality soundtracks, which frankly,
should be listened to by more. Here’s a
somewhat, not comprehensive list of some which meet the requirements of should
be heard more:

White Night, True Light
(DNAngel Opening)

I want to become the wind -
DNAngel Soundtrack

Anything from the .hack//SIGN
soundtrack

Sousei no Aquarion - Sousei
no Aquarion Opening. With music done by Yoko Kanno, it's a blast of an
opening and will have you singing along with it... literally

Death Note Soundtrack -
There are some hidden gems that are fantastic to listen to Kyrie, Death
Note Theme and L no Theme

Through the Years and Far
Away - Voices of a Distant Star

Higurashi no Naku Kori ni - Surprisingly
the opening to the anime of the same title. I actually liked this tune
because it was unusual and had some nice melodies in it.

R.O.D Soundtrack - Contains
some incredibly good action tunes from the series that are outstanding.
Suite for an I-Jin is particularly good to listen to.

Garden of Sinners - Various
tracks, has some outstanding vocal and the Oblivious is absolutely
amazing.

Lovely Complex - BON BON -
The second of the two ending themes for Lovely Complex, BON BON is
exceptionally uplifting a really nice to listen to.

Little Wing - Scrapped
Princess Op - When I first played this to my brother, it was one of the
only songs that got him addicted to an anime before he hand even
seen it! Give it a listen and maybe it'll to the same for you!

Houki Boshi - Arguably the
best tune to come out of Bleach...ending number 3 really rocks

SAGA ~This is my Road~ - the
ending tune so far this year, no questioned asked. The lyrics and
tune are just beautiful. If you want to know, the first part is
Handel's Sarabande. You never know, someone might ask.

Tsubasa Chronicles - If you
liked the soundtrack to Garden of Sinners, then you'll enjoy this, it’s
done by the same person and just really cool.

Garden of Everything – From the RahXephon
Film, its blows my mind every time I hear it.

Still Doll – There’s something creepy about
the way this is played, yet somehow makes you want to listen to it time
and time again.

Manga

Many
people have a tendency to say they prefer manga over anime or vice versa. I'm
the sort who appreciates each for their own expression and enjoy both of them.
Currently I've got more manga series on the go than I can keep track of, but
it's only because I absolutely enjoy the refreshing and original storylines
that they keep on producing.

Mangas
that are well worth reading:

Mx0 - I was exceptionally surprised
to have found that Mx0 had
ended...stopped when it was in it's prime. Either way, the story of a boy who
attends a magical school...without being able to do any magic is certainly
interesting, not because it uses the same I'm bad at magic tactic, but more the
amazing attempts to cover up that he can't use magic. The series is only 99
chapters long, but you'll be laughing all the way through and can't help but
fall in love with the characters. Certainly a very different manga that should
be on peoples list of ones to read.

GE – Good Ending – I always like to give any new release a quick
flick through just to see if I like it or not.
I’m glad that I did for this one as GE – Good Ending has some
pure comical moments which literally made me have to stop reading through
laughing too much. It’s a tried and
tested formula, the boy who loves someone, but doesn’t know how to ask, and the
customary, female who helps him to get together with the girl. Yet, GE – Good Ending, just has this
freshness about it which makes you glad you picked it up to read.

Ikagami – If you were told that you were going to die
in 24 hours time, what would you do?
This series explores just that, in a society where everyone has been
given an injection which may contain a nano-machine which when the fated time
arrives, kills the owner. However, to
make it not that bad, you’re given 24 hours notice. Oh, and when I said it’s not that bad, it’s
actually quite interesting seeing how different people reaction to this
revelation. The series is fresh,
original and highly hard hitting. Read
something different, that makes you think, “What would I do if I had 24 hours
left to live”.

Anime you
should avoid like the plague:

It's very
rare that I watch a series and recommend people NOT to watch it since it's a
sheer waste of time. So far only 2 animes have ever reached the criteria for me
NOT recommending them. The awards for worst made animes are:

Blame! - An anime with no plot, little
talking, half of the time is spent on the closing credits and no decent music.
I only know the plot because I looked it up...any anime where you have to do
that is really bad.

Demonbane
TV -
Shouting names at the top of peoples voices seemed to be the only thing capable
out of a badly written script, below average animation and a storyline that
seemed...bad. Don't go watching it, look at a wall for a while, it might be
more interesting that this one.

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